La Dolce Vita Cafe, the gelato and pastry shop that built its following out of Ocala's Jasmine Square, is opening a second location inside Paddock Mall near Macy's. The locally owned business plans to bring its house-made gelato, coffee and pastries to the enclosed mall along SW State Road 200, according to an Aug. 3 release.
Austin L. Miller first detailed the move for the Ocala Star-Banner, reporting that the new cafe will sit near Macy's inside the mall's interior. La Dolce Vita's original storefront remains open at 6146 SW State Road 200 in Jasmine Square, the outlet noted.
A Bigger Footprint for a Jasmine Square Favorite
Jasmine Square, the 55,000-square-foot plaza anchoring La Dolce Vita's flagship, pulls in more than 448,000 visits a year and also houses the Marion County Tax Collector's SW State Road 200 branch office, according to Northmarq. The stretch of SW State Road 200 fronting the plaza carries more than 47,000 vehicles a day, per the same listing. The flagship's menu leans into Italian tradition, with house-made gelato, espresso, Italian pastries and specialty baked goods, according to AutoReserve.
Paddock Mall's Decades-Long Reinvention
Paddock Mall opened on Aug. 13, 1980, along SW State Road 200 near Interstate 75 and remains the only enclosed regional shopping mall in Marion County, according to The Jaxson. The 650,000-square-foot mall originally opened with Maas Brothers, Belk-Lindsey and JCPenney as its anchor tenants.
Sears closed its Paddock Mall store in 2018 after operating there since 1991, and developer BSD Capital began converting the vacated 146,000-square-foot space into an artisan retail center called Paddock Market in October 2024, adding nine dedicated restaurant spaces, according to 937Kcountry. That overhaul set the stage for a wave of new food tenants inside the mall's reworked footprint.
New Neighbors, New Ownership
Among those newcomers was Georgia BBQ's Paddock Market debut: Four Smokes BBQ opened its first sit-down restaurant inside Paddock Market in February, transitioning from a Georgia food truck operation.
The mall's ownership changed hands in July 2025, when CBL Properties acquired Paddock Mall from Washington Prime Group as part of a four-property portfolio deal valued at $178.9 million, according to Business Wire. Washington Prime Group had owned and managed the property following a 2021 bankruptcy restructuring.
The Numbers Behind Ocala's Food Bet
Even the mall's existing food court has evolved before: the 380-seat Winner's Circle court was added in 1997 and today houses national quick-service chains including Chick-fil-A, Charley's Philly Steaks, Auntie Anne's Pretzels and Pei Wei Asian Diner, per The Jaxson. The outlet estimates Paddock Mall still draws roughly 3.4 million annual visitors within a 30-mile radius, making it the sole enclosed comparison-shopping destination for Marion County's roughly 400,000 residents.
That kind of draw matters in a county where restaurants and food services make up the single largest employment sector, accounting for more than 3,850 jobs in central Marion County, according to 2024 Census estimates cited by Data USA. The sector outpaces construction and other commercial trades in local workforce size, the data shows.
What's Still Unclear
It remains unclear whether the Paddock Mall storefront marks a true second location for La Dolce Vita or a broader shift in the family-owned business's focus, and how independent Ocala cafes are navigating rising commercial real estate pressure across the county. That pressure has already reshaped the local dining map: Stella's longtime Broadway spot closes after an 18-year run downtown, with owners announcing the move in June.
